Roman Baths

The Roman Baths were Roman thermae (public baths) which were built from the 1st to 5th centuries AD in the city of Aquae Sulis (present-day Bath, Somerset, England). The baths were built at the site of a Celtic pagan temple to their goddess Sulis; the Romans built a temple to the syncretic Romano-British goddess Sulis Minerva from 60 to 70 AD. The baths were used until the Roman evacuation of Britannia in 410 AD, after which they fell into disrepair. However, the area around the natural springs was redeveloped during the Middle Ages, and the Roman building was rebuilt from 1894 to 1897. By the 21st century, the Roman Baths were a major tourist attraction, although visitors were not allowed to swim in the waters, as they had been tainted by algae and the lead lining of the baths themselves.